1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surgical forceps which is mainly operated by an assistant when a surgery is performed by operating treatment instruments inserted in a body through a plurality of trocars.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a laparoscopic surgery (hereinafter, also referred to as a surgery) for performing therapeutic treatment without opening the abdomen has been performed, for example, for the purpose of lowering invasion on a patient. In this surgery, a plurality of trocars 202, 203, and 204 are punctured into an abdominal cavity of a patient 201, as shown in FIG. 1.
Then, an endoscope 205 is inserted into the abdominal cavity through the trocar 202, an electrocautery scalpel 206 as an intra-body-cavity treatment instrument is inserted into the abdominal cavity through the trocar 203, and a grasping forceps 207 is inserted into the abdominal cavity through the trocar 204.
An operating surgeon 208 performs therapeutic treatment and the like while mainly observing an endoscopic image in the abdominal cavity which is displayed on a screen of a display apparatus 211, and an assistant 209 performs therapeutic treatment and the like while mainly observing an endoscopic image displayed on a display apparatus 212. Note that the reference numerals 213, 214 represent nurses. The reference numeral 215 represents a light source apparatus. The reference numeral 216 represents a control apparatus, and the control apparatus includes a function of a video processor for generating endoscopic images.
When dissection is performed, a plurality of trocars, for example, four trocars are punctured into the abdomen of a patient. One of the four trocars is used for an endoscope, and an endoscope for observation is inserted into the abdominal cavity through the trocar. Other three trocars are used for treatment instruments, and for example, a grasping forceps and an electrocautery scalpel which are operated by an operating surgeon are respectively inserted in two of the three trocars. In the remaining one trocar, a grasping forceps which is operated by an assistant is inserted, for example.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-192290 discloses a surgical treatment instrument as a grasping forceps. In the surgical treatment instrument, when the operator operates a movable handle to slide an operation rod in an axis direction, and a pair of grasping members is revolved around a fulcrum pin, thereby causing a grasping portion to open and close.
In the above-described surgery, the operating surgeon and the assistant respectively take care of and operate the treatment instruments inserted through the three trocars.
For example, the operating surgeon operates the electrocautery scalpel while operating the grasping forceps to dissect a diseased part, and gives instructions to the assistant to grasp a tissue and to pull the grasped tissue, for example. On the other hand, the assistant appropriately operates the grasping forceps in accordance with the instruction by the operating surgeon, to support smooth proceeding of medical procedure. This causes the medical procedure to effectively proceed.
However, if the assistant is an inexperienced doctor, there is a case where the assistant cannot understand the instruction by the operating surgeon, and gets stuck during the surgery or operates the grasping forceps differently from the operating surgeon's desired operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,939 discloses a robotic surgery and a method of the same. A plurality of surgical robots are used in the robotic surgery. Each person in charge can operate each of the plurality of surgical robots, or one person can operate the plurality of robots. Therefore, the operating surgeon operates the plurality of robots, thereby being freed from the burden of giving instructions to the assistant or coaching the assistant. As a result, the operating surgeon is capable of focusing entirely on the surgery.